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APA (7th edition) Citation Guide

Paper Setup

  • APA now has different title page requirements for student papers. This title page does not require a running head and has a different set of information to include. See APA Style: Student Title Page Guide.
  • Titles of papers are now bolded, with a blank line before the author's name.
  • There is no font requirement as long as the font is legible and consistent.
  • The heading for the References list is now bolded.
  • There are now guidelines for annotated bibliographies.

In-Text Citations

The in-text citation for works with three or more authors is now shortened right from the first citation. You only include the first author’s name and “et al.”.

  • (Taylor, Kotler, Johnson, & Parker, 2018)
  • (Taylor et al., 2018)

Formatting Author Names

Surnames and initials for up to 20 authors (instead of 7) should be provided in the reference list.

  • Miller, T. C., Brown, M. J., Wilson, G. L., Evans, B. B., Kelly, R. S., Turner, S. T., … Lee, L. H. (2018).
  • Miller, T. C., Brown, M. J., Wilson, G. L., Evans, B. B., Kelly, R. S., Turner, S. T., Lewis, F., Lee, L. H., Cox, G., Harris, H. L., Martin, P., Gonzalez, W. L., Hughes, W., Carter, D., Campbell, C., Baker, A. B., Flores, T., Gray, W. E., Green, G., … Nelson, T. P. (2018).
  •  

Book Publisher Location

The publisher location is no longer included in the reference.

  • Covey, S. R. (2013). The 7 habits of highly effective people: Powerful lessons in personal change. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster.
  • Covey, S. R. (2013). The 7 habits of highly effective people: Powerful lessons in personal change. Simon & Schuster.
  •  

DOI

DOIs are formatted the same as URLs. The label “DOI:” is no longer necessary.

  • doi: 10.1080/02626667.2018.1560449
  • https://doi.org/10.1080/02626667.2018.1560449

In-Text Citations

The in-text citation for works with three or more authors is now shortened right from the first citation. You only include the first author’s name and “et al.”.

  • (Taylor, Kotler, Johnson, & Parker, 2018)
  • (Taylor et al., 2018)

URL

URLs are no longer preceded by “Retrieved from,” unless a retrieval date is needed. The website name is included (unless it’s the same as the author), and web page titles are italicized.

  • Walker, A. (2019, November 14). Germany avoids recession but growth remains weak. Retrieved from https://www.bbc.com/news/business-50419127
  • Walker, A. (2019, November 14). Germany avoids recession but growth remains weak. BBC News. https://www.bbc.com/news/business-50419127

eBooks

eBooks should be cited exactly as print books. Do not include a database.

Keating, D. P. (Ed.). (2010). Nature and nurture in early child development. Cambridge University Press.

For ebooks, the format, platform, or device (e.g. Kindle) is no longer included in the reference, and the publisher is included.

  • Brück, M. (2009). Women in early British and Irish astronomy: Stars and satellites [Kindle version]. https:/doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-2473-2
  • Brück, M. (2009). Women in early British and Irish astronomy: Stars and satellites. Springer Nature. https:/doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-2473-2

 

Sacred texts should now be included in the references list (the 6th edition only required an in-text citation).

The Bhagavad Gita. (E. Easwaran, Trans.; 2nd ed.). (2007). The Blue Mountain Center of Meditation.

King James Bible. (2017). King James Bible Online. https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/ (Original work published 1769)

Journal Articles

If a journal article does not have a DOI, you may end the citation after the page numbers. There is no longer a requirement to include the URL of the journal's homepage. However, if an article is open access, you may choose to link directly to the article's full text.

 

  • Kerlis, B. (2013). Sacred spaces in virtual places: Locating religion in the financial market. Journal for the Study of Religion, 26(1), 23–44. http://www.scielo.org.za/pdf/jsr/v26n1/03.pdf

 

 

If an article has an article number, use that in place of the page numbers

 

  • Derry, K. (2018). Myth and monstrosity: Teaching indigenous films. Journal of Religion & Film, 22(3), Article 7. https://digitalcommons.unomaha.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2013&context=jrf

 

You may use a shortened DOI if desired.

 

  • Grasset, L., Glymour, M. M., Elfassy, T., Swift, S. L., Yaffe, K., Singh-Manoux, A., &emp; Al Hazzouri, A. Z. (2019). Relation between 20-year income volatility and brain health in midlife: The CARDIA study. Neurology. http://doi.org/dchq

Database Content

If a library database contains its own, proprietary information that cannot be retrieved elsewhere, include the name of the database and a permalink in the reference.

 

  • Ornes, S. (2019, September 20). Extreme weather. CQ Researcher. http://library.cqpress.com/cqresearcher/cqresrre201909200